# Make a population cancer registry a condition of every cancer aid programme

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-acc-registries-as-aid-condition/  
OnCo record `idea-acc-registries-as-aid-condition` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

You cannot fix what you cannot count. Every donor-funded cancer programme should fund and require a population-based cancer registry so results can be measured over time.

## Summary

Fewer than one in five people in Africa are covered by a high-quality population-based cancer registry, so GLOBOCAN estimates for the uncovered countries are extrapolations. Registries are cheap relative to treatment programmes and are the only way to see stage shift, survival, and coverage. The proposal is a coordinated donor policy: a fixed percentage of every cancer grant supports a registry meeting IARC Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development standards, with data deposited in the Global Cancer Observatory.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Countries where registry funding is bundled with cancer programmes will reach high-quality registry coverage of at least 30% of their population within five years, against under 10% for comparators.
- Rationale: IARC's GICR hubs have shown that modest, sustained support produces usable registries; the missing piece is consistent funding rather than method.
- Proposed test: Track registry coverage, data quality indicators, and inclusion in Cancer Incidence in Five Continents for countries under the policy versus those outside it.
- Maturity: speculative
- Actor: philanthropy

## Sources

- Global Cancer Observatory (IARC): https://gco.iarc.fr/

## Connected records

- collections: [GLOBOCAN / Global Cancer Observatory](https://onco.cc/collections/globocan/), [SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results)](https://onco.cc/collections/seer/)
- institutions: [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/)
- bottlenecks: [Data silos](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-data-silos/), [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/), [Weak real-world evidence and registries](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-real-world-evidence/)
- roadmaps: [Global access and affordability roadmap: essential medicines and generics → biosimilars and frugal trials → reliance, pooling and homegrown innovation](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/global-access-roadmap/)

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